Tag Archives: exhibit

Tag Archives: exhibit

“Get Animated!” Explores the History of Animation from Pencils to Pixels

The new “Get Animated!” exhibit, created by Stage Nine Entertainment, includes a number of elements focused on the iconic Gumby and his creator Art Clokey. The exhibit, which opened at the Arizona Science Center in summer 2017, moved on to the Bishop Museum in Honolulu from September 2017 through January 2018.

“Get Animated!” is a journey through the history of animation, and it allows visitors to experience every step in the animation process. It brings to life the evolution of animation from traditional hand-drawn cels to exciting breakthroughs in stop motion and CGI. Gumby is highlighted along with other famous characters from well know animated cartoons and films, including the Simpsons, Bugs Bunny, Scooby Doo, Porky Pig, Tom and Jerry, Tweety Bird and many others. This traveling show is an exciting interactive, hands-on exhibit.

Gumby – The Symbol of Stop Motion Animation

The Clokeys worked closely with Troy Carlson and his team at Stage Nine Entertainment to create and develop the Gumby portion of the exhibit. A brand new Gumby stop-motion short, animated by Anthony Scott, Premavision/Clokey Productions’ Animation Director, introduces the exhibit. Get a sneak peek here. Anthony got his start in stop motion with Gumby on the 1980’s series and went on to work on Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline, James and the Giant Peach and a long list of other highly acclaimed feature films.

The Gumby portion of this large exhibit includes:

A reconstruction of Gumby’s stop-motion studio with animation area, puppet making area, prop area complete with vintage toys like those in the episodes of the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘80s.

Videos showing various aspects of Gumby and the stop-motion process. They include snippets such as, “Meet the Animator,” “Making a Clay Puppet, and an interview with Art Clokey.

Real clay Gumby puppets, including “Gumby through the Years,” showing how he’s changed with each new TV series. Vignettes of your favorite characters: Pokey, the Blockheads, Prickle, Goo, Professor Kapp and Minga are also on display.

The set of 1963 episode “Hidden Valley” has been reconstructed.

Another display (the Web of Influence) shows how Art Clokey taught, mentored and inspired many of today’s world-famous animators, artists, and crew.

A giant Gumby sculpture is on hand for photo ops.

Kids can create their own stop-motion video using Gumby, Pokey and pals bendable toys.

This Fantastic Educational Experience May be Heading to Your Area

Kids and adults alike have been enjoying this exhibit tremendously and finding it fun and informative.

Our teacher fans who love Gumby (and the animation) are encouraged to use this exhibit as a learning tool. Field trips to the exhibit are encouraged and there is a Teachers’ Guide available to use before, during and after the visit. The Guide explains that “Get Animated!” takes students on a journey through the history of animation, from pre-film animation devices to the computer-generated animated films of today. Discover the men and women who have contributed to animation through the ages and learn what films, tools, or characters they introduced to the world. Take a behind-the-scenes look at the making of your favorite animated shows and movies, and view old drawings, sets, and notes used in these productions. You can even try your own hand at animating!

The exhibit will travel throughout the county and be in each location for about 3-6 months. The exhibit name may change at each museum, so we will keep you informed of where you can experience the Gumby fun firsthand.

Gumby and Pokey are touring the U.S. Our dynamic duo (6” bendable toys from the ‘60s) are on display in the new exhibit: Toys of the ‘50s, 60s and 70s. Now appearing in its fifth U.S. city, the exhibit is drawing large crowds. This fun exhibit chronicles toys through three decades. And you guessed it… Gumby made the cut.

The names of popular toys from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s capture the craziness, the joy, and the sheer fun of being a kid. But beneath those nutty names are rich veins of nostalgia, memory, and history. The stories of the kids who played with these toys, the adults who bought them, the child-rearing experts who judged them, and the people who invented them reflect the rhythms of American life. Experience the toys and their stories through three imagined living rooms that bring the decades back to life.

Moving Mountains for Gumby.

Your favorite clay stop-motion animation star Gumby now has a reality show episode under his belt. In April 2015, Gumby and the Clokeys (the family that created Gumby) appeared on A&E’s Shipping Warsshow.

In celebration of Gumby’s 60th Birthday, Arizona State University hosted a special Gumby exhibit in a gallery on its Tempe campus. Shipping Wars engaged professional shippers to bid on the opportunity to ship the Gumby exhibit to Arizona. The winning team packed up priceless memorabilia, photos and delicate clay puppets, sets and very tiny fragile props and delivered them to the gallery, 850 miles away across the desert. One set included snowy mountains made of wood and plaster 18’ long and 8’ high, a ski patrol house, Gumby’s winter cabin and snow banks. Packing, loading and this precious cargo was a challenge to say the least.

One of the shippers was so enamored with Gumby, her childhood hero, that she insisted on helping set up the exhibit and she even stuck around afterwards to kick off the exhibit in true Gumby style. You’ll have to watch the show to see how the journey and event unfolded.

If you missed the show when it first aired, check the A&E website, YouTube and your local cable listings to see where you can watch it now. You can catch a short clip of it here:

The exhibition explores the evolution of stop motion animation in the United States—especially in special effects, television, and film—while examining some of the key milestones in the field. Innovators include Willis O’ Brien (King Kong), Tim Burton (Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas), Art Clokey (Gumby), Ray Harryhausen (It Came From Beneath the Sea), Henry Selick (Coraline and James and the Giant Peach), Phil Tippett (Star Wars and Jurassic Park), and more. This 100-year-old art form launched Walt Disney’s career in animation.

The exhibition includes behind-the-scenes photographs, replicas of the original armatures, a Digital Input Device (DID), puppets and other interesting tools of the trade. Gumby is represented with storyboards, an original Gumby puppet mold, a description of how a clay character is made, a morphing Gumby, and photos of Art Clokey at work.

"Animate Your Night" animation activities at the Disney Family Museum

Visitors are invited to manipulate and touch armatures at a special interactive station. A video spotlights great moments in stop motion animation, and episodes and clips from various stop motion masterpieces are shown.

We especially enjoyed the kick-off party, “Animate Your Night,” in September, during which visitors made clay puppets with wire and foil armatures and created their own digital stop motion animation. There was so much wonder and creativity in the air! The entry hall featured a sculpted cake adorned with sweet likenesses of the characters in the exhibit, and the caterer even got into the spirit by dressing in a Gumby costume to deliver tasty treats. Too much fun!

Can you believe that this is a cake?

A very Gumby caterer

The next time you are in San Francisco, stop by the Walt Disney Family Museum for an introduction into the world of animation and Walt Disney’s life. The well-designed museum will surely delight animation fans of any age. Check out their calendar of events for their list of fascinating talks and activities.